Force India drivers rule out Belgian Grand Prix repeat

Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi have ruled out a repeat of the teamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s shock performance at Spa last year, but still believe a podium place is possible.

The team locked out the front row for the Belgian Grand Prix last season, with pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella narrowly missing out on a win when he finished second behind FerrariÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Kimi RÃƒÂ¤ikkÃƒÂ¶nen as Sutil finished fourth and set the raceÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s fastest lap.

“Last year we had an incredible car there, it was a big advantage,” said Sutil. “We don’t have that advantage anymore.”

“Still, we should be able to score a lot of points in the coming races. We have a very good chance in Spa and Monza.”

Liuzzi added that the pace and development of the front runners will prevent them from achieving a similar success, but believes the team should still score highly at Spa and Monza.

“I think now some teams have improved a lot in drag and in top speed, so I don’t think we will have the advantage of last year, but I still believe that we are in good shape to aim for a podium,” he said.

“We said at the beginning of the year we wanted to achieve a podium and I think we can fight for it.

“It’s not easy, as the others are not sleeping in their development, but our car should be well suited to the track and we showed in Canada that we have really strong potential on that kind of circuit.”

Force India are still developing their blown diffuserÃ¢â‚¬â€one of the must-haves in Formula 1 this seasonÃ¢â‚¬â€and Sutil insists the team needs to work quick so as not to lose out to rivals Renault, Sauber and Williams.

“We have to get it upgraded now, we are losing to the competitors a little bit in the diffuser area,” he added.